Chapter 17 Chapter Fifteen

△Elevation 8848 meters, PM1:25 on May 10, 1996 * Adventure and strong winds have many hidden dangers, and the sinister fury of ambition only occasionally emerges, vaguely, on the surface of facts, forcing its way into a man's head and heart, so that the intricacies of accident or force of nature befall him, Well-meaning, powerful and uncontrollable, ruthless, designed to crush his hopes and fears, his weary pains and his longing for rest, that is, to smash, destroy, destroy what he sees, knows, loves, loves, hates everything.All sunshine, memories, futures that are priceless and necessary, that is, the precious world is completely swept away from his vision by the simple and terrible act of taking his life.

Conrad "Sir Jim" Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim □□□ Beidleman reached the summit with client Adams at 1:25 p.m.By then, Harris and Pokliffe had reached the summit, and I had left eight minutes earlier.Belderman thought the rest of his teammates would show up soon, so he snapped a few photos, joked with Pokrief, and sat down to wait.At one forty-five, the customer Cliff finished the last uphill section, took out photos of his wife and children, and celebrated with tears in his reaching the top of the world. Looking down from the peak, there is a bulge on the ridge blocking the view, and other sections of the road cannot be seen.By two o'clock, the time appointed for the U-turn, there was no sign of Fisher or the other clients.Beidleman began to worry about the delay.

Beidleman, thirty-six, trained as an aeronautical and space engineer, was the quiet, considerate, conscientious guide most of Team Fisher and Team Hall liked.He is also a master climber.Two years ago, he and his friend Pokliffe climbed the 8,481-meter-high Makalu Peak in a time close to the world record without an oxygen tank and Sherpa.He first met Fisher and Hall on the slope of K2 in 1992, and his superb ability and easy-going demeanor left an excellent impression on them.However, Beidleman's alpine experience is relatively limited (he has only climbed Makalu, the Himalayan mountain), and his status in the chain of command of the mountain idiot team is lower than that of Fisher and Pokliffe.The remuneration also reflected his junior status. Fisher gave Pokliffe $25,000, and Mann agreed to be a guide on Mount Everest for $10,000.

Beidleman is sensitive by nature and is well aware of his rank in the expedition team.He confessed after the expedition that I was, without a doubt, the third-ranked guide, so I tried to keep my head down, and I ended up being silent when I probably should have spoken, which I now regret. Beiderman said that according to Fisher's less rigorous summit plan, Jiang Bu should go ahead of the team, take the radio and two coils of rope, and set off to set the rope before the client.Bockcliffe and Bedman (neither of whom were assigned radios) were in the center or center front, depending on the client's movement.Fisher made the rounds with a second radio.We listened to Hall's suggestion and decided to enforce the rule of turning around at two o'clock: as soon as two o'clock arrives, everyone who is not within the reach of the peak must turn around and go down the mountain.

Beidleman explained that it should be Fisher's job to turn clients around.We discussed it.I told him I was the third guide and I didn't feel comfortable ordering a client who had paid $65,000 to turn around and go downhill.So Fisher agreed that he would be in charge.But somehow, he didn't.In fact the only ones who made it to the top before two o'clock were Pokliffe, Harris, Bedleman, Adams, Cliff, and me.If Fisher and Hall followed the pre-set rules, everyone else should turn back before reaching the summit. Bedleman grew anxious as the minutes passed, but he didn't have a radio to discuss the situation with Fisher.Jiang Bu, who had a radio in his hand, was still missing below.That morning Beidleman saw Jiang Bu vomit towards the snow on the top of the terrace, so he took Jiang Bu's two coils of rope and tied them to the steep rock steps above.Now he laments, I didn't even think to take his radio.

Beiderman recalled that in the end, I sat on the summit for a long time, looking at my watch, waiting for Fisher to show up, and wanted to go down the mountain.But every time I stood up and wanted to leave, another customer turned over the top of the ridge, and I had to sit down again and wait for them. Sandy crossed the last uphill road at around 2:10, and Charlotte, Jiang Bu, Madsen, and Gamegarde also arrived later.But Sandy walked very slowly, and suddenly knelt down on the snow not far below the peak.Jiang Bu went to help her, only to find that her third cylinder of oxygen had run out.In the morning when he was pulling her forward on the short rope, he had turned her oxygen flow to the highest, four liters per minute, and she quickly ran out of oxygen.Fortunately, Jiang Bu, who doesn't use oxygen, brought a spare cylinder.He attached Sandy's oxygen mask and regulator to the new tank, and they climbed the last few meters to the summit to join in the celebration.

Around this time, Hall, Glenn, and Yasuko also reached the summit, and Hall radioed the good news to Helen at Base Camp.Helen recalled afterwards that Hall said it was cold and windy up there, but he seemed to be in good health.He said, Han Sen is about to cross the horizon and walk up, and then I will go down the mountain. If you don't hear my message again, it means everything is going well.Helen notified the office of Adventure Consultants in New Zealand, and many faxes were sent to friends and relatives around the world announcing the successful summit of the expedition. In fact, at that moment, Han Sen was not as far below the peak as Hall thought, nor was Fisher.In fact, Fisher did not reach the summit until after 3:40, while Han Sen reached the summit after 4:00.

The previous afternoon (Thursday, May 9), we had gone from Camp 3 to Camp 4, and Fisher didn't arrive at his tent at the South Col until after 5 p.m.While he tries to hide his fatigue in front of clients, he arrives genuinely exhausted.Charlotte, who shared the bill with him, recalled that I could not see that Fisher was ill that evening.He acted like Mr. Hard sell 1, like a football coach before a big team trying to cheer everyone up. Note 1: Mr. Gung HO (Mr. Gung HO), derived from the word Gonghe in Chinese, refers to the Gonghe Movement and the Gonghe International Committee initiated by New Zealanders in China in 1939. The spirit of concerted efforts makes this Gung The word Ho has the meaning of hard work and hard work in English.Editor's note

To be honest, Fisher has been exhausted from the physical and mental stress of the past few weeks.Although he had boundless energy, he squandered his physical energy. By the time he reached No. 4 Battalion, his physical energy was almost exhausted.Pokliffe admitted after the expedition that Fisher was a strong man, but he was exhausted before reaching the summit.There are many problems and consume too much physical energy.Worry, worry, worry, worry.Fisher was very nervous, but he took it to heart. Fisher may have been ill before reaching the summit, but he kept it from everyone.During an expedition to the Annapurna mountains in Nepal in 1984, he contracted amoeba dysenteriae, a gastrointestinal parasite that he had been unable to expel for years.From time to time the worm would wake up from hibernation, causing multiple severe ailments and leaving cysts in his liver.Fisher, who had spoken to several people at base camp about his illness, insisted there was nothing to worry about.

Jane said that when the parasite was active (as it apparently was in 1996), Fisher would break out in bouts of profuse cold sweat, tremble, and become weak, but only ten or fifteen minutes passed.In Seattle he had seizures about once a week, but more often when he was overworked.It's more frequent at base camp, every other day, sometimes every day. If Fisher ever had seizures in Camp IV or higher, he never mentioned it.After climbing into the tent Thursday evening, Fisher collapsed and fell into a coma for about two hours, Charlotte said.He woke up at ten o'clock at night, not ready to go for a long time.He remained in the tent long after his last clients, guides and Sherpas had all set out for the summit.

We don't know exactly when Fisher left Camp Four.Probably not until one o'clock in the morning on Friday, May 10th.On the summit day, he was generally far behind everyone, and he had not yet reached the South Peak around one o'clock in the afternoon.The first time I saw him was around 2:45, when I had finished my summit descent and was on the Hillary Step with Harris waiting for a group of people to climb up.Fisher was the last person to climb the rope, and he appeared very weak. We joked with each other when Adams and Pokliffe were standing above me and Harris, waiting to step down the Hillary steps, and Fisher had a word or two with them, trying to ask naughtily through the oxygen mask : Hey Adams, do you think you can climb Everest? Adams replied: Hey, Fisher!I just made it to the top.It sounded annoyed that Fisher hadn't congratulated him. Then Fisher spoke a few words to Pokleef.Adams recalled the conversation, saying that Pokliffe told Fisher that I would go down with Adams.So Fisher walked slowly towards the summit with heavy steps, while Harris, Pokliffe, Adams and I turned around and descended from the Hillary Step.No one discussed Fisher's fatigue.None of us ever thought that something could be wrong with him Beidleman said afterwards that Fisher hadn't reached the summit until 3:10 p.m. on Friday, and added: "I decided that even if Fisher didn't show up, everyone should leave.Gathering Sandy, Gamegard, Charlotte, and Madsen, he began to lead the group down the ridge.Twenty minutes later, above the Hillary Steps, they encountered Fisher.Beidleman recalled: I didn't say anything to him.He just raised his hand slightly.Looks like he's had a hard time, but he's Fisher, so I'm not too worried.I think he will succeed in attacking the summit soon, and rush over to help us take the client down the mountain. It was Sandy that Bedleman was worried about. Everyone was doing badly, but she seemed particularly frail.I think if I don't keep an eye on her, she might fall off the ridge, so I make sure she stays hooked to the fixed rope, and when there is no rope, I grab her harness from behind and hold her tight , until she hooks another length of rope.She was so confused that I wasn't even sure if she knew I was there next to her. Not far below the South Peak, the climbers descended into clouds and snow, and Sandy fell down again, asking Charlotte to give her a shot of the powerful steroid dexamethasone.This drug is generally called Dex, which can temporarily eliminate altitude sickness. Everyone on the Fisher team brought a pre-prepared injection under the instructions of Dr. Ingrid, put it in a plastic toothpaste tube, and hid it in the down jacket Freeze proof in case you need it.Charlotte recalled afterwards: I opened Sandy's trousers a little bit, and inserted the needle into her buttocks through the long inner layer and other clothes. Beideman, who stayed at the South Peak to count the oxygen tanks, just arrived at the scene and saw Sandy lying face down in the snow while Charlotte was injecting her.I climbed over the knoll and I saw Sandy lying there with Charlotte standing over her swinging the hypodermic needle and I thought oh shit, it doesn't look good and I asked Sandy what was going on and she tried to answer, saying What came out was just a series of distorted babbles.Bedleman was so worried that he told Gamegard to swap the full oxygen tank with Sandy's nearly empty one, make sure her regulator was on full flow, and grab Sandy's safety harness. Dragging her half unconscious down the steep snow slope on the southeast edge.He explained: I let her slide down, let go first, and then rushed to the front of her to slide down first.Every fifty meters down the line, I would stop, wrap my hands around the fixed rope, brace my body to block her.The first time Sandy hit me so fast, the tips of the crampons tore through my down jacket, sending feathers flying everywhere.About 20 minutes later, the injection and oxygen took effect, Sandy regained her physical strength and could walk down by her own strength, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At around five o'clock, Beidleman accompanied the client down the ridge, and Glenn and Yasuko Namba were arriving at the terrace about 150 meters below them.From this promontory at an elevation of 8,413 meters, the route abruptly turns off the ridge and leads south to No. 4 Camp.But Glenn looked in the other direction, the north side of the ridge, through the snowflakes and shadowy light, and saw a lone traveler seriously off course.It was Adams, who was disoriented in the snowstorm and was about to go down the east wall to Tibet. As soon as Adams saw Glenn and Yasuko Namba above, he realized he was going the wrong way, and he slowly climbed back to the terrace.Glenn recalled: When Adams returned to Yasuko and me, he was already insane.He was not wearing an oxygen mask and his face was covered with ice and snow.Ask, which road leads to the tent?Glenn pointed, and he immediately followed the path I had driven ten minutes ago, down the correct side of the ridge. While Glenn waited for Adams to climb back to the ridge, he let Yasuko go down first, and he was busy looking for the camera case he had lost on the way up the mountain.He looked around and noticed for the first time that there was another person on the terrace.He was dressed in white, and his whole body seemed to be submerged in the snow. I thought he was a member of Fisher's team, so I didn't pay attention to him.Then this guy stood in front of me and said hi, Glenn, and I realized it was Withers. Glenn was as surprised as I had been when he saw Withers.He took out the rope and started dragging the Texan down the South Col.Glenn said afterwards: He could not see at all, and every ten meters he would step on the ground and step into the thin air. I had to pull him with a rope.Many times I worried that he would drag me off the cliff too.The process was really frightening.I had to make sure with the ice ax carefully, keeping the tip firmly in the solid ground along the way. One by one, Beidleman and the rest of Team Fisher's clients followed the trail I had left fifteen or twenty minutes earlier, fish through the growing blizzard.Adams was behind me, but ahead of the others, followed by Yasuko, Glenn and Withers, Cliff and Gamegard, Beidleman, and finally Sandy, Charlotte and Madsen. At 150 meters above the South Col, the steep shale was replaced by a gentle snow slope. Yasuko ran out of oxygen, and the petite Japanese woman sat down and refused to leave.Glenn said: "I took her oxygen mask off so she could breathe freely and she insisted on putting it back on right away.It was useless to persuade her, she just couldn't believe that the oxygen was gone, and the mask would only make her breathless.By this time Withers was too weak to walk by himself, and I had to support him on my shoulders.Fortunately, Bei Deman caught up with us at this time.Beidleman saw that Glenn was busy taking care of Withers, so he dragged Yasuko to Battalion 4, even though she was not a member of Fisher's team. At this time about 6:45, it was almost completely dark.Beidleman, Glenn, their clients, and two of the Fisher teams, Sheba Zelin and Dorje, who belatedly emerged from the fog, have merged into a team.Although this group of people walked very slowly, they had come to a place within a vertical distance of less than 60 meters from the No. 4 Battalion.At that moment I was arriving at the tent, perhaps only fifteen minutes earlier than Beidleman and his group who were at the forefront.However, within that short period of time, the blizzard suddenly intensified, turning into an out-and-out hurricane, and the visibility dropped below six meters. Beidleman wanted to avoid the dangerous ice slope, so he took the group of people on a gentle route that turned far eastward, and arrived safely at the wide and gently undulating South Mountain at around 7:30. depression.But at that time, only three or four people's headlight batteries still had power, and everyone was on the verge of physical collapse.Charlotte becomes increasingly reliant on Madsen for assistance.If Withers and Yasuko hadn't been supported by Glenn and Beideman respectively, they wouldn't be able to walk at all. Beidleman knew they were on the east side of the South Col near Tibet, but the tent was somewhere on the west side.But if you want to go in that direction, you must advance against the wind and the snowstorm.The hurricane whipped up ice and snow particles that slammed into their faces and scratched their eyes so they couldn't see where they were going.Cliff explained: "It was so hard and painful that we couldn't help but kept turning to the left, trying to avoid the wind, so we went the wrong way. He continued: "Sometimes I can't even see my own feet, the wind is so strong.I'm worried about someone sitting down or leaving the team and then disappearing.But when we got to the flats of the South Col, we started following Sherpa, and I thought they knew where the camp was.But then they stopped suddenly and walked back, and it soon became clear that they didn't know where they were.That's when I felt like someone shot me in the stomach and I knew we were in trouble. For the next two hours, Beidleman, Glenn, two Sherpas, and seven clients staggered blindly through the snowstorm, hoping to find camp by accident.They are getting more and more tired, and their body temperature is getting lower and lower.At one point they bumped into two discarded oxygen tanks and thought a tent was nearby, but couldn't find it."It was a mess," Beidleman said afterwards.Everyone was banging around and I was yelling at everyone and trying to get them to follow a leader.Finally, around ten o'clock, I came over this hillock and felt as if I were standing on the edge of the earth.I feel like there is nothing beyond. The lost group has unknowingly reached the easternmost end of the South Col, which is the edge of the steep slope with a drop of more than 2,100 meters on the east wall. 2, but Beidleman said: I know if we continue to walk around in the snowstorm, we will lose some people very quickly.I dragged Yasuko until I was exhausted.Charlotte and Sandy could barely stand.So I yelled for everyone to huddle over there and wait for the blizzard to stop. Note 2: It may take three hours for a strong mountaineer to climb a vertical height of 300 meters, but this time the 300 meters are across gentle terrain. If a group of people know where the tent is, it may take 15 minutes. finished.author note Beidleman and Cliff sought shelter from the wind, but there was nowhere to hide.Everyone's oxygen has long been used up, so they can't resist the chill brought by the strong wind.The temperature has reached minus seventy degrees.On the lee side of a rock no bigger than a dishwasher, the climbers squatted miserably in a row on the snow and ice to shelter from the wind. Charlotte said: At that time, I was about to freeze to death.Eyes freeze.I don't see how we're going to survive this.The chill was stinging and I didn't think I could take it any longer.I just curled up and hoped that death would come sooner. Withers recalls: We beat each other to keep warm.Someone yelled at us to keep moving our arms and legs.Sandy yelled hysterically, I don't want to die!I don't want to die!But no one else said much. About 300 meters to the west, I was shaking inside the tent.Even with my sleeping bag zipped up, down jacket and all, I was unbearably cold.The wind looked like it would blow the tent to pieces.Every time the door was opened, the tent was filled with wind-blown snowflakes, covering everything with three centimeters of snow.Unaware of the tragedy unfolding outside in the blizzard, I fell into delirium and lost consciousness intermittently due to the effects of fatigue, dehydration, and constant oxygen deprivation. Earlier that evening, Hutchison, who was in my tent, came in, shook me like hell, and asked if I would go outside with him to bang pots and light up the sky, hoping to guide lost climbers in, but I The body is too weak, and the only response is incoherent speech.Hutchison was back at camp at two in the afternoon, so not as weak as I was.He went to other tents to wake up other clients and Sherpas, but everyone was too cold or too tired, so he had to walk into the snowstorm alone. That night he walked out of the tent six times to find his lost mountain friends, but the snowstorm was so strong that he dared not go any further than walking a few meters from the camp.He emphasized: "The wind was as strong as ballistic.Flying snow is like spraying out of a sand blaster.After I had been out for fifteen minutes, I was so cold that I had to go back to the tent. Bedleman hunkered down with the others at the eastern end of the South Col, desperately trying to stay alert for signs that the blizzard had died down.Before midnight, his vigilance finally came to fruition. He suddenly noticed a few stars above his head, and called out to others to look at them together.The wind is still blowing violent snowstorms on the surface, but far above, the sky has begun to clear, revealing the huge mountain shadows of Everest and Lhotse.With these two points of reference, Cliff thought he had figured out the relative position between the group and No. 4 Battalion.After his growling conversation with Beidleman, Beidleman also believed that he knew how to get back to the tent. Beidleman tried to coax everyone to stand up and walk in the direction Cliff pointed, but Sandy, Charlotte, Withers, and Yasuko were too weak to walk.At this time, as long as the guide can see, if no one in the group goes to the tent for help, they will all die.So Beidleman rounded up those who were still ambulatory, and he, Cliff, Gamegard, Glenn, and two Sherpas stumbled into the blizzard for help, leaving Madsen and four out of action. capable customers.Madsen couldn't bear to leave his girlfriend Charlotte behind, so he selflessly volunteered to stay and take care of everyone until reinforcements arrived. Twenty minutes later, Beidleman and his party limped into the camp, and reunited excitedly with the worried Pokliffe.Cliff and Bedman were barely able to speak, and they collapsed exhausted in their respective tents after telling the Russian where to find the five clients who had been left behind in the blizzard. Bocliffe descended to the South Col several hours before the rest of Fisher's team.At five o'clock, when his teammates were still struggling to descend among the clouds at an altitude of 8,500 meters, he was already resting and drinking tea in the tent.A seasoned guide may later question why he decided to go down the mountain earlier than the client, and so much earlier, which is very unconventional for a guide.One of the clients in the group looked down on him, saying that he would only slip out on big occasions. Pokliffe left the summit at about 2:00 pm and was soon caught up in the Hilary-rank crowd.After the crowd cleared, he walked quickly down the southeast ridge without waiting for any customers, although he had told Fisher at the top of Hillary's steps that he would go down with Adams.He had returned to Battalion Four long before the blizzard. After the expedition I asked Pokliffe why he had come down ahead of the team, and he handed me a transcript of an interview he had given to Men magazine a few days earlier through a Russian interpreter.Bocliffe said he had read the manuscript and was sure it was correct.I read it on the spot, and immediately read a series of questions related to the descent, and his answer was this: I stayed (at the peak) for an hour or so and it was very cold, so naturally I used up a lot of energy. My standpoint was to stand there waiting, freezing, and it was useless at all.If I go back to Camp 4, I can also take the oxygen tank up to the returning climbers, or if someone is weak when going down the mountain, I will go up to help, it will be much more useful. If you stay still at that altitude, you will be in the low temperature Lose energy and then can't do anything. Porkleaf was not using supplemental oxygen, which undoubtedly made him more chilled.He didn't wear an oxygen mask, and if he waited for laggard customers on the summit ridge, he would definitely suffer from frostbite and hypothermia.In any case, he rushed down the mountain ahead of the team, and Fisher's last letters and phone calls from Base Camp to Seattle made it clear that Pokliffe had done so throughout the expedition. I questioned Pokliff based on what judgment he was basing his client on the summit ridge, and he insisted that it was for the good of the team: I would go back to the South Col to rewarm and be ready to send oxygen up when the client ran out, so better.Indeed, shortly after dark, Bedleman and his party did not return, and when the storm turned into a hurricane, Pokliffe knew they must be in trouble, and bravely tried to send them oxygen.But there was a serious flaw in his plan: neither he nor Beideman had a radio, and he had no way of knowing what kind of plight the missing climbers were in, or even where they were in the vast alpine mountains. At any rate, at about half-past seven, Pokrieff left Battalion Four to join the group.He recalled: Visibility was maybe one meter at that time, and nothing was gone.i have a lamp.In order to climb faster, I started using oxygen.I brought three cylinders of oxygen.I tried desperately to walk faster, but seeing nothing was like having no eyes, no way to see, it was impossible to see.It is very dangerous, people may fall into the ice crevasse, and may fall 3,000 meters straight to the south face of Lhotse Peak.I want to climb up, it's dark and I can't find a fixed rope. At about 180 meters above the South Col, Bocliffe saw the futility of doing so and returned to his tent, but he admitted that he almost lost his way.In any case, fortunately he gave up the rescue, because at this moment his teammate was no longer on the peak he was going to wait for him to give up the search, and Bei Deman and his party were actually 180 meters below him at the South Col. Walk around and bump around. He returned to Battalion No. 4 at about nine o'clock in the evening, worried about the nineteen missing teammates, but he had no idea where they were, and had no other choice but to wait for an opportunity.At twelve forty-five, Beidleman, Glenn, Koff, and Gamegard stumbled into the camp.Pokliffe recalled: Cliff and Beideman had exhausted their energy and could barely speak.They say Charlotte, Sandy and Madsen need help, and Sandy is dying.Then tell me roughly where to find them. Hutchison heard that several climbers had arrived and came out to assist Glenn.Hutchison recalled: "I helped Glenn into the tent and I saw he was really, really tired.He could speak clearly, but with great force, like a dying man giving his last words.He told me, you need to find some sherpas.Send them out to find Withers and Yasuko.Then he pointed to the east wall of the col. Hutchison tried unsuccessfully to organize a rescue team.Two of our team, Sherpa Chudan and Alita, did not accompany the team to the summit and stayed in the No. 4 Battalion to deal with emergencies. However, they were cooking in a poorly ventilated tent and were poisoned by carbon monoxide, making them unable to move at all.Qiu Dan even vomited blood.The other four Sherpas in the team were cold and weak from the top attack. After the expedition I asked Hutchison why, since we knew the whereabouts of the missing man, why didn't we try to wake Fishback, Kasisker, or Tusk, or try to call me again, and let us assist in the rescue?You obviously don't have a drop of strength, and it never occurred to me to call you.Your level of exhaustion is far beyond normal limits, and I think if you try to help others, it will only make things worse and you will pass out outside, and you will have to be rescued instead.As a result, Hutchison walked into the snowstorm alone, but he was worried that he would not find his way back to the camp if he went too far, so he turned back when he reached the edge of the camp. At this time Pokliffe also tried to organize a rescue team, but he did not contact Hutchison, nor did he come to my tent, so Hutchison and Pokliffe split their efforts, and I did not agree with the rescue plan of both parties. I don't know.In the end, Bocliffe, like Hutchison, found that those he could wake were too sick, too tired, or too frightened to lend a helping hand, and he decided to go alone and bring the team back.He braved the hurricane and searched the South Col for nearly an hour, but found no one. But he doesn't give up.He returned to the camp, asked Beidleman and Cliff for more detailed directions, and walked into the snowstorm again.This time he saw the faint light of Madsen's headlamp and finally found the missing person.He said: "They lay motionless on the ice.Also unable to speak.Madsen is still conscious and can probably take care of himself, but Sandy, Charlotte and Withers can't help it at all, and Yasuko seems to be dead. After Beidleman and others left to seek help, Madsen gathered the remaining people together and threatened everyone to continue activities to maintain their body temperature.He recalled: I put Koko on Withers' lap, but he was not very responsive at that time, and Koko didn't move at all.After a while, I saw her lying on her back with snowflakes drifting into her hood.For some reason, she lost a glove, and her right hand was exposed. Her fingers were so tightly curled that she couldn't straighten them, as if her bones were frozen. I thought she was dead.But after a while, she suddenly moved, and I was very excited.She seemed to arch her neck slightly, as if she wanted to sit up, and stretched her right arm up, but that was all.She then lay back on her back and hasn't moved since. Bocliff found a group of people and found that he could only carry one person down at a time.He brought a tank of oxygen, and Madsen was connected to Sandy's oxygen mask.Then Bocliffe told Madsen that he would be back as soon as possible, and helped Charlotte to the tent.Madsen recalled: After the two left, Withers curled up in an embryonic state and remained motionless.Sandy huddled in my lap and didn't move.I yelled to her: Hey, keep shaking your hands!show me your hands!She sat up and held out her hands, and I saw her mitten-less gloves dangling from her wrists. So I managed to push her hands back into the mittens, and suddenly Withers muttered: Hey, I figured it all out.Then he rolled away a little, crouched on a large rock, and stood up, arms outstretched into the wind.A second later there was a gust of wind blowing him back into the night, my headlamps couldn't reach that far.I didn't see him again after that. Pokliffe came back soon, grabbed Sandy, and I picked up my things, staggering behind, trying to follow the headlights of the two of them.At that time I believed that Yasuko was dead and Withers was missing.When they finally reached the camp, it was four thirty in the morning, and the eastern horizon was already lighted.Beidleman heard from Madsen that Yasuko failed to be rescued and had a nervous breakdown in the tent, crying bitterly for forty-five minutes.